


Speed Dating

by Listen_to_my_Melodia



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Crush at First Sight, Fluff and Humor, Han Jisung Best Boy, Lee Minho | Lee Know is Whipped, M/M, Minsung are best buddies, Speed Dating, Unsubtle Flirting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25549558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Listen_to_my_Melodia/pseuds/Listen_to_my_Melodia
Summary: “How unfair is it that, as a non-English speaker, I have to WaiT fOr So L0nG to know what’s going on every time I want to watch a series?!"let's learn English!" & "Let's meet foreigners!" Jisung said to Minho that evening.How they ended up in Hongdae at an international Speed dating event at 4 PM on a Friday was still beyond his understanding.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Felix
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	Speed Dating

“What is the craziest thing on your bucket list?” the man in front of him asked in an expected Konglish. 

Minho stared at the round badge with a very pinkish number 5 on the guy's chest. What was he supposed to answer? First, he didn't have a bucket list. Second, he  _ knows _ this type of question calls for a cool answer and so far, Minho had nothing in mind that would fit either his condition - tiredness, both physically and mentally - or the guy’s expectation.

"I don't have a bucket list," he settled for, looking blankly at the other who seemed a bit fazed by the answer. 

Minho spotted Jisung's smug smile from the table behind and rolled his eyes. He tried to focus on number five once again - John? was it? - but not before checking un-discreetly the timer on the desk. He sighs loudly without bothering to hide his boredom, still three more minutes to go. Who knew seven minutes could be so long. 

How did he end up in this, you'd say? Well, Minho recalls perfectly the moment his stupid past-self made the unforgivable mistake to ramble to his best friend. It was perfectly innocent, really, but Minho should know better than telling Jisung everything that goes through his mind. It never ended the way he planned it. 

They were lazily spread out on the couch, cuddling as usual, simply because they could, watching one of their favourite shows on Minho’s computer. The last episode had been released in English, but no subtitles were available Yet. Minho, as usual, complained about the lack of Korean translation. 

“How unfair is it that, as a non-English speaker, I have to WaiT fOr So L0nG to know what’s going on every time I want to watch a series?! Why is everything in English anyway? How easier life would be if I could understand English properly,” he sighed loudly, too desperate to pay attention to his friend’s reaction to his words.

Yes, Minho had been overacting a tiny bit. Patience wasn't his thing and let's be honest, desperately waiting for a kind soul to end your suffering and translate your favourite show so you could understand more than the laughs and cries, was far from being the most pleasant hobby. Everyone could relate, for sure.

The way his complaints turned from "let's learn English!" to "let's meet foreigners!" in his best friend's twisted mind was not too surprising. However, how they ended up in Hongdae at an international Speed dating event at 4 PM on a Friday was still beyond his understanding. 

\---

“I recall you saying we should make foreign  _ Friends _ , not dates or hookups.”

“Who talked about hookups? How would that help our goal?” Jisung sounded way too invested in his newly found mission and Minho had to admit he was a bit scared. “It’s well known that dating is the fastest way to learn someone’s language. Not saying we should find a date today. It’s just an occasion to interact with foreigners and meet new people. Also, it’s more comfortable than going to an international party. Any other occurrence would be nothing more than a positive addition.”

With a surprisingly strong grip on his wrist, Jisung dragged him to the counter at the entrance. They were given badges and had to sign the so-called ‘Value agreement’ - just a polite way to request people to not be shitty no matter who was in front. Minho wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be a good or bad sign. 

Quite a few people were there in a display of diversity that was unusual to see in Seoul outside of Itaewon. Most participants were subtly dressed up. A very fashionable “I don’t look too fancy but it took me three hours to find my clothes, do my hair and makeup. With his ‘it’s Friday and all my other clothes were dirty’ jean and a comfortable tee-shirt, Minho felt under-dressed. Even Jisung - this sneaky b****** - had his best jean subtly showing off every single line of his body and his so-called ‘lucky jacket’ (because he Always scored with this one - his words).

“What am I doing here, really,” Minho complained for the tenth time in a row. 

“Come on hyung, it’s going to be fun!” Jisung thanked the volunteers and looked at his neon pink badge, “I’m number 19, you?”

“9 - 2. What does that even mean?” 

“9 is your reference number and 2 is your assigned group based on your language level and preferences. What did you choose?”

“English beginner and boys, of course. Are we in the same group?”

“Nop,” Jisung popped the sound loudly, as proud as one can be of his announcement. “I choose English intermediate and  _ both  _ boys and girls.”

Minho looked at him unimpressed. “I won’t comment on the intermediate, but both?” 

“What? It would be such a waste to restrict myself when the world is full of wonderful people to meet.”

“You greedy bisexual. You surely aren’t making things easy for the organisers.”

“I'm not greedy, I'm generous,” He didn’t look offended one bit, too used to bicker with his best friend to care. “Why would I prevent people from getting a chance to meet Han Jisung??”

“Should I remind you you suggested that we join this event to learn English.”

“I do want to learn English, but it doesn't mean I can't take all the benefits I can from this occasion,” he blinked innocently. 

“Hai hai,” Minho dismissed in mocking Japanese. “Don’t get your hopes too high. Your time won't be longer than anyone else you know.”

“No worry, that’s plenty of time for the great Jisung.” 

As if to back up his words, Jisung stared at the distance and caught Minho’s arm to bring him closer. 

“Oh my... look at the one over there, isn’t she cute?”

“Jisung, we arrived about 39 seconds ago and you're already drooling over some random person?”

“It's a speed dating event hyung, you gotta be efficient!”

Minho scoffed in fake disapproval. Jisung's antics never failed to amuse him after so many years. 

He wasn't wrong though, such events didn't call for deep conversations. He wondered if it would be of any help for him. He sucked at English and was somehow used to small talk as a polite interaction, not a way to get to know someone. He wasn’t sure he could hit it off in a friendly way with anyone in such a short time.

He was reluctant to judge people based on appearances and liked to understand what he was going for before opening to someone. He had his fair share of lies and tricks from the cleanest looking people. He knew he wouldn't be able to trust someone after a 5 minutes talk, but it wasn’t like he was here with hopes anyway.

The honey voice of one of the organisers called him back on earth. 

“First of all, we want to apologize since you will not be able to meet each participant. We have more people who registered than the events we held previously and we had to put you in groups.”

Minho rolled his eyes. As if it would matter. He tried to focus on the explanations and got stuck staring at the host himself. The man was young, probably around the same age and with messy brown hair falling in front of his eyes. He was all in black and he looked good. Unbelievably so. 

The host started to detail the functioning of the event in a soothing tone. If his explanations in fluent Korean followed by perfect sounding English were anything to go by, he was also bilingual. The perfect sample of what one could look for in such settings. Too bad organisers were not in the participation list or Minho would have dropped all other guys after meeting this one. 

“Each date will be 7 minutes long,” he continued, pushing his hair out of his eyes in a movement Minho never knew was so attractive. 

“In Heaven or in Hell!” Jisung laughed at his own joke. 

His giggles almost shoved Minho away and attracted a few gazes toward them. The host interrupted his speech for a second to stare at them half-amused, half-confused. 

Minho wanted to hide. Why did his friend have to be laughing so loudly? There go his chances of attending incognito and starting the discussions off on the right foot with anyone. He would be labelled as the weirdo who couldn’t stand still during a five minutes speech. 

“You can talk about pretty much anything during your date time, but don’t be intrusive, don’t be rude and be respectful,” the host resumed his previous talk. “When the bells ring, make sure to leave fast enough to avoid taking the next participant’s time.” 

“It better be worth my time,” Minho warned. “You’ll owe me otherwise.”

“Come on, think about all the evenings we will be able to cuddle in front of the TV watching the last episode of the trendiest series without subtitles,” Jisung raised his eyebrows, daring him to go against his words. 

The reasoning was flawed, Minho knew, but the dream was tempting. He took the time to imagine the familiar scene and almost smiled. Almost. No way in Hell he would admit to Jisung how much he enjoyed his cuddles during their binge-watching evenings. The disappearance of the language struggle was just a plus he couldn’t refuse. 

Of course, he knew it wouldn’t be that easy to learn a language his school teachers hadn’t been able to teach him in ten years. Yet, if his friend was happy, he could make an effort.

“Come on, admit you like it," Jisung puckered his lips and made grabby hands at his best friend.

“I want to slap you right now, you're lucky there are people around.”

“Oh I see~ so you want to keep your image. Cold beauty or whatever.” Minho groaned. “Is that for one participant in particular or…”

He did not bother to end his sentence. Minho's glare was enough to shut him more quickly than any word. It apparently gave him away at the same time. 

“What?! Really? And you said I was fast!” He snickered, “let me guess,” he continued, scanning the crowd a bit too excitedly for Minho's liking.

He was ready to facepalm or strangle Jisung, he wasn't completely sure. Probably the second. It would be more effective. His friend just was already scanning the crowd eagerly checking out each participant with curiosity. 

Minho sighed and tried to avoid any suspicious behaviour while looking at one particular man a few meters away.

\------

The bell rang for a break and ‘John’ greeted him goodbye to move to another group.

Relief flooded Minho’s blood. 

He had never been happier to hear the sound of the Bell before. Not even the relief of Uni’s Bell putting an end to the most deadly boring course could compare to the alleviation he felt at the moment. 

Finally... Finally it was over! He did not even have the strength to force a smile at the man who was already moving out of the seat. He put his face in his hand to hide the heavy sigh that left him. If the next meetings were half as odd and disappointing as this one, he might end up convicted for assault before the end of the event. 

Why were all the participants so uninteresting? Speed dating, it seemed, was a mean for desperate people. How could he meet someone bearable to teach him some English? 7 minutes felt long enough, he couldn’t image spending hours with any of them. All he wanted to was taking out his phone to scroll on twitter or watch video on youtube while these guys pull out their worse pick-up lines. 

Jisung was going to pay for putting him through this hell of neverending sufferance. 

Sure enough, they met seconds later, Jisung almost running toward him with the brightest smile. Before he could start threatening him and ask for his due compensation, Jisung caught high shoulders and started shaking him with a bit too much vigour for such a small guy. 

“HYUNG I MET A BOY!” Jisung yelled excitedly. 

Minho replied about five seconds too late. Jisung repeated his sentence again and shook him once more. He would start to feel dizzy if he didn’t stop him. When he managed to free himself, he stared at his friend unimpressed. 

“That’s what you registered for, yes. Meeting boys and girls and all that jazz.”

“No, no, you don’t understand. I met the prettiest boy I've ever seen. No human can compare. No offence hyung,” he quickly added.

“None taken.”

“He’s such a sweetie. Like he looks all serious, but he kept apologizing for every little mistake but his Korean is the.cutest.thing! And his voice... don't get me started. Oh my God, so deep and his accent is so addictive. Boy can step on me any time.” 

“Jisung, your gay is showing,” Minho shook his head half-amused. 

“You didn’t hear him hyung. Everyone would be gay for him. Not that I have any effort to do anyway…”

“I didn’t need to hear that.”

Jisung shrugged. “I don’t care if it can help me get the guy.”

“English, Jisung, I’m pretty sure I remember you dragging me here talking about learning a new language and all, not to drool over cute boys. Looks like you’re getting off track.”

“Nop, that’s the best part hyung, the boy is Australian! Cute native English speaker! No lie, I'll be the most diligent student if he's my private teacher.”

“Or you won’t study and fanboy all day long like the noisy squirrel you are.”

Jisung pouted, but he knew he could hardly deny. He could hardly focus on anything with pretty boys and girls around. Sue him, he liked pretty things.

“I hope the guy turns you down. I can already picture how tiring it’ll be to hear you fawn over him every five seconds.”

And how lonely he would feel if he were to third-wheel for his best friend. With his very unsuccessful meetings, he could already picture himself alone in front of the screen, curled up in a cold blanket watching random shows instead of their movie nights. 

Jisung wasn’t ungrateful, but Minho wouldn’t let him waste an opportunity to get closer to a guy he clicked with that quickly. No matter what, this was also something he would never let the younger know. 

“You’re mean. Just because you can’t get to my level,” he pouted and Minho shrugged.

Yup. Life was a hundred times better without Jisung knowing how much his best friend cared for him. 

“So?” Jisung brought him out of his thoughts. “How about you?”

“Dunno, normal I guess. If awkward conversations with foreigners can be labelled as normal.” 

“You don’t show willingness. It ruins the whole experience. I’m sure it’ll get better and you’ll find a pretty one! Hands off mine, of course.” 

Minho rolled his eyes. Again. Jisung was sometimes too enthusiastic, but his happiness was infectious. As always, for lack of common sense, Minho wanted to believe he was right.

\---

It didn’t get better. 

“And like I’m not judging or anything, but…”

Minho erased the man’s voice from his mind, nodding lazily without processing any of the words. No topic could go right after This specific kind of ‘But’. NEVER. 

How he wished he could mute or kick people out of the server in real life. Okay, he might have been playing online games a bit too much in the last few days, but he still regretted that such options weren’t available. 

Instead, Minho decided to mentally mute the guy. No need to bother with formalities, the guy has been anything but interesting and kept pushing his opinion in a borderline offensive way. Minho was in no mood to follow a douche talk. 

In any other situation, he might have made an effort and given the benefit of the doubt to the poor foreigner who was already struggling well enough to make a full speech in Korean. Another day maybe, but right now he didn’t feel like making any effort. 

He ended up almost blacking out and barely noticed the unhappy growl the man emitted when he left the seat in front of him. Okay, maybe he had been rude, but his patience was running thinner after each speed date. 

He wasn’t sure how anyone could truly enjoy these types of events. It was so awkward and tiring. The chances of meeting anyone seemed lower than his energy at the moment. Sure, it could be interesting for people who fit such settings. No lost time, talks straight to the point, meeting various people… it could be worth it. Maybe. For more patient, lively and understanding people. 

Maybe this wasn’t for him. 

If anything, Minho could congratulate himself for helping his best friend find a date. Of course, he couldn’t be sure it would work between them, but Jisung was willing to try and Minho to support him. 

He was pulled out of his thoughts by his next ‘date’. “How is a pretty boy like you still single?” The guy asked about two seconds before sitting down.

Minho mentally facepalmed. Now his patience fully disappeared and he started to be irritated. Scratch his happiness for Jisung and any other related friend-rule. Jisung would pay for his suffering. A lot! And the organisers too. Who would dare to organise something like that just to have him live the most boring-enerving minutes of his life?!

“Thank you, I guess,” he stated unimpressed. 

He had to refrain from kicking the guy out. 

Despite his lack of enthusiasm, the guy didn’t seem to get the message and smiled back flirtingly. He wasn’t bad looking.

“I could solve this problem real quick,” he concluded his sentence with a flirty wink.

“I might have missed something but since when being single is a problem?” Minho snapped.

Who did this one think he was? 

Since was there a rule that he  _ Should _ be dating? How being pretty was related to being in a relationship? Did this guy know about chemistry, freedom, personal time and other wonderful reasons one could have to not want to be in the dating game? 

Okay, to the guy’s credit, they were in a speed dating event, which inevitably leads people to think Minho was actively looking for a date. 

He wasn’t, thank you very much. He was happy with his solo self. He wasn’t against dating should the opportunity arise to get close to a handsome, fit and soft-spoken guy, but didn’t feel any need to fill his lonely nights with a boyfriend. What was Jisung for after all, if not to cuddle him to sleep when he felt sad or lonely? Bestfriends duty, duh. 

“I didn’t mean to offend,” the other student apologized. “I just thought a joke would make you smile since you seemed out of it. I guess I came out too pushy.”

Minho’s blood cooled as fast as it warmed up. He was a jerk. He felt bad for suddenly taking it out on the poor one in front of him, number 31. He didn’t even know why he did when the unnamed guy seemed nice and fun enough. 

Their ‘date’ ended with 7 full minutes of silence and apologies back and forth without any talk. 

Minho couldn’t just keep being bored and angry, just to be mean to the first poor soul he had in front of him at the moment. 

His mistake just confirmed he didn’t fit for this type of event. He had to stop and leave. Jisung will be disappointed, but he was far from having fun and he couldn’t risk snapping to anyone without reason.

\---

Minho stood up while staring at his phone. Would Jisung be sad if he left and waited for him outside? They were not in the same group, so it would not change much for him, right? He closed his eyes for a second and sighed loudly as he tried to make his mind. 

"Is everything okay?" A honey-dripping voice called him back to Earth. Or Heaven. He wasn’t sure his tired brain was not mixing his dream with reality. 

Minho’s eyes snapped open, ready to apologize to whoever wrongfully thought it was a good time to talk to him. He met worried doe eyes and messy curly hair. 

"May I?" 

Minho nodded dumbly and blinked a few times, expecting the mirage to disappear by doing so. He felt suddenly speechless and just stared at the man who started giggling - Really giggling, was it allowed by law?! - at his behaviour. 

“Did anything happen?”

There was no mistake. The person in front of him was the handsome one who introduced the event. Could it be Minho’s luck finally revealing itself to make up for the experience?

“I…” Should he tell the truth? It would be easy to shrug the topic away and politely sneak out, but he couldn’t resign himself to it. Maybe it was the concern in his eyes; maybe it was the comforting tone of his voice. He was unsure about the reason but wanted to sit down with the guy in a corner and spill everything. It was a bit scary how compelled he was to share his worries with a random - incredibly good-looking - stranger.

“I was about to leave. That’s it,” Minho tried to reassure him. It didn’t work. The man looked more worried than a minute ago. 

“If anything happened, let me know. It is better to deal with it right away. I wouldn’t want things to get worse.”

“No. It’s just… I don’t know. I can’t think of anything to tell a stranger that would fit a seven minutes discussion. I better save up my energy for something more useful.”

The one in front of him laughed. Loud and free, face bright and eyes shining. He was stunning. For a second Minho was in love. 

"You scared me. I thought you were harassed or something.”

“Oh… sorry. For like… worrying you.”

“No, I surely like it better that way. I saw a pretty boy looking angry and a bit anxious, so I randomly thought he had been mistreated. Serves me right for assuming.”

“Thank you,” Minho smiled at the subtly thrown compliment. 

“No problem. You’re new to this, right? It's a lot at once, I know. Not easy to handle at first." 

How could he - Minho glanced at the number on his chest, seventeen - be that handsome and empathetic at the same time? Was it allowed to be that endearing on a first meeting? Was his job charming the participants instead of supervising them? Minho was pretty sure it was illegal. 

“Wait, are you supposed to be there?” he blurted out and regretted it the moment it left his mouth. 

His brain-to-mouth filter was failing him again. He needed to fix that as soon as possible. It was not how he wanted his first discussion with Hot-guy-with-the-nice-voice to go on. Not that he imagined their first discussion at all. Like when he first noticed him or anything. Of course not. 

The guy tilted his head and shrugged. “I guess? I mean, the point is to talk to all participants in each group.”

“You’re a participant?!” he asked, more surprisingly excited than he aimed it to be. 

“I’m part of the staff,” hot-guy explained - Minho made a mental note to ask his name soon. “With Bambam - he’s the cute loud blondie over there - We’re the ones who organised this,” he gestured to the room, “event. We want to give people a safe place to meet others without discrimination, make everyone as happy as we now are.”

“Oh, I see…” Minho nodded to acknowledge him. He didn’t want to read into things too much, but… did that mean what he thought it did? He hoped his voice wasn’t dripping with disappointment at the implication of the maybe taken stranger. He had no reason to be anyway, they met barely one minute ago.

“We’re not usually interacting much with the participants, but when he heard his crush would participate today he decided we needed to meddle in the groups,” he pointed to a pretty lady a few meters away. “I just decided to run away from his unsubtle flirting. That’s when I saw a cutie all bothered and lonely who was almost calling for my help.”

“Oh… Oh!” Minho took long enough to process the words. 

The guy smiled, bright and warm, dimples on display. Minho wanted to bath in his smile forever. “I don’t think I introduced myself yet. I’m Chan between.”

“Minho,” he replied simply, still awestruck. 

The bell rang to announce the next change of seats. Minho glanced at the guy beside them skipping his table to move directly to the next one. 

“I don’t want you to feel obligated or anything, but since we’re right on time, would you try to date me for the next 7 minutes?”

“What?”

“You said you were ready to leave, right? So would you have me as your last speed date today, okay?”

Who was Minho to refuse such a tempting offer? 

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know where I'm going or what I'm doing, but it was fun to write so far! 
> 
> follow me on twitter [@/melodia_au](https://twitter.com/melodia_au)


End file.
